10 June 2012
On 6 June 2012, Venus, Earth’s Sister Planet, passed in front of the Sun. This is a very rare astronomical phenomenon, known as the transit of Venus. While astronomers and Skywatchers, around the world, were observing the event, sophisticated spacecrafts, operating in various orbits, acquired spectacular views of the magnificent cosmic wonder.
06 June 2012
On Wednesday, 6 June 2012, Venus, Earth’s Twin Planet, passed directly between Earth and the Sun. This is a very rare astronomical phenomenon, known as the transit of Venus. The event was visible worldwide, in all continents. In Egypt, the Sun rose while the transit was in progress. Thousands of astronomers and skywatchers, around the world, enjoyed observing and imaging a black round dot, creeping across the face of the Sun.
03 June 2012
When a solar eclipse occurs, the shadow of the Moon falls on Earth, and moves rapidly on its surface. On 20 May 2012, an annular eclipse of the Sun was visible in eastern Asia, the northern Pacific Ocean and western North America. NASA’s Terra satellite has relayed a natural color image (Fig. 1) of the lunar shadow darkening part of Earth, during this eclipse.
31 May 2012
On Wednesday, 6 June 2012, Venus will pass in front of the Sun. This is a very rare astronomical phenomenon, known as the transit of Venus. During a transit, Venus is visible as a black dot, moving slowly across the Sun’s disk. The coming transit of Venus will be visible worldwide, in all continents. In Egypt, it will be observable from sunrise, occurring at about 5:00 a.m., and will last over 100 minutes.
30 May 2012
On 20 May 2012, an annular solar eclipse was visible in eastern Asia, the northern Pacific Ocean and the western United States. The Japanese space agency, JAXA, recently published wonderful images of this solar eclipse, which darkened the daytime sky, in parts of Japan. The images were acquired from Earth orbit, by JAXA’s Hinode spacecraft.
21 May 2012
NASA recently published a beautiful natural-color satellite image (Fig. 1) of the eruption of the Bagana volcano in Papua New Guinea. Bagana is located on the mountainous spine of Bouganville Island. It spews volcanic gases (including water vapor and sulfur dioxide) almost continuously, and frequently extrudes thick lava flows.
17 May 2012
In early May 2012, a dust storm blew east of Damascus. The storm covered most of Syria, and extended into Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a natural-color image (Fig. 1) of the huge storm, on May 11. The dust was densest in the west, especially in Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia, and thinning toward the east.
14 May 2012
In early May 2012, Mexico’s Popocatépetl Volcano maintained a high level of activity. Nearby seismographs recorded earthquakes accompanied by dozens of explosions each day. The explosions spewed gas and ash from the volcano, and small amounts of volcanic ash fell as far as the suburbs of Mexico City, about 70 km away.
10 May 2012
NASA recently published an interesting image (Fig. 1) of the Ouarkziz Crater, an impact crater located in northwestern Algeria, close to the border with Morocco. Ouarkziz was produced by a powerful meteorite impact, less than 70 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous Period, or “Age of Dinosaurs.”
04 May 2012
NASA recently published an interesting image of a dust storm in the White Sands dune field. The image was acquired on 28 February 2012, by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station, the largest spacecraft ever flown into space. In Fig. 1, dust from the White Sands dune field, blown by southwesterly winter winds, rises hundreds of meters from the valley floor, and drifts over the snow-covered peaks of the Sacramento Mountains.